He demands perfection, it seems, even when he is speaking. He doesn’t withhold so much as measure. If he can get back to shutting down receivers like he answers questions, he will be a rich man and the Chargers should win a lot of games.

He was jamming at the line, in press coverage, bumping and running.

Then, finally, slightly more than 27 minutes into a breakfast interview the day before training camp, Cason allowed something -- acknowledging that wanting the best has been a part of his not always being at his best.

One thing he finds difficult to remember, sometimes, is that one of the most important things he can do as a cornerback is to forget.

Cason is accustomed to a high level of production from himself. When things don’t go as they should, he can be prone to letting it get him down and keep him down.

“Yeah,” he said when asked if that was a fair assessment. “Because I care. I really do.”

Striving to be the best, wanting the best for self and team, is a learning process. Not actualized as constructive, it can be detrimental.

“Yeah,” Cason said. “It’s made an impact. There’s no doubt. I care about this team and our success.”

Given that the Chargers need him to be the stalwart cornerback he was for most of 2010 and the fact that he is facing a pivotal season personally, it is perhaps just in time that Cason has come to the conclusion that he can only do what he can do – and, gosh darn, it’s going to be good enough.

Forget if the defensive coordinator expresses a lack of faith in him. Forget how many interceptions he has or doesn’t have. Forget how many passes are completed against him. Forget if someone else isn’t doing their part in the scheme.

“I’m just willing to let things happen by me doing my part and taking care of my business for this team and continuing to be humble, continuing to have faith, continuing to be better,” he said. “I don’t want to put any expectations out there, because if it goes higher than that, it should because of the work I’ve put in.”

Cason has each year added a wrinkle to his offseason regimen. I can attest to standing in the Tucson heat watching him run under the watch of a University of Arizona track coach prior to the 2010 season. He has in the past couple years also added beach workouts and varied his routine in the gym.

This year, he started eating like an adult.

With the help of a nutritionist he pays to monitor and set his diet, Cason has gone organic and limited himself to chicken, fish and lean red meat.